The Key To The Truth
by Zucht
Summary: A Birds Of Prey crossover with a futuristic Smallville LoisClark pairing.


**A/N:** This story is a crossover with the short lived WB series, _The Birds Of Prey_. A series they should have paired with Smallville… Anyway; the series takes place in New Gotham, the secret lair for _The Birds Of Prey_ is in the Clock Tower of a Wayne skyscraper in downtown.

The principles are:

**Barbara Gordon** – once Batgirl now called Oracle the mistress of the cyber world (also wheelchair bound thanks to the Joker), she took in and fostered…

…**Helena Kyle** – the Huntress, daughter of the Batman and Catwoman, has extra ordinary physical power (strength, endurance, night vision – feral felinish) and fights the good fight.

**Dinah Redmond** – teenage telepath/telekinetic hero in training (ran away from foster family, also daughter of the Black Canary) and is also being fostered and mentored by Barbara Gordon.

This story takes place a couple of years after the series ended. I hope this note allows you to enjoy this story, if not remind you of a very good series that died too early!

**The Key To The Truth**

It didn't bother Dinah Redmond that the elevator was slow compared to the express lift that went to the Clock Tower. After school she usually rode this one up to the penthouse apartment she shared with her foster mother, Barbara Gordon. The three minute trip gave her a chance to let the pressure of her senior year of high school go.

After she reached their apartment, she sorted the bundle of mail she had collected from the lobby, dropping most of it in the recycle bin, and placed the important post on Barbara's desk. She tossed her grossly overloaded backpack into her room and grabbed a banana before passing through the hidden panel that accessed the Clock Tower…

Dinah stopped – something was off… Barbara wasn't at her work station, or anywhere else she could see. Something must be wrong.

Helena's coat lay over a nearby chair, but it could have been left there anytime in the last week… or month.

After she had taken several steps toward the Delphi desk, she heard Barbara's laughter… she never laughs!

She looked up and saw her sitting in her chaise lounge talking with a pretty brunette and a tall bespectacled man.

"You don't want to go up there." Came from behind her.

"Why?" She asked as she turned to face Helena Kyle, her foster sister and mentor in crime fighting.

Before she received an answer she heard Barbara call her, "Dinah, could you please come up here."

"I tried to warn you…" she heard as Helena vanished into the express lift. Curious, she quickly made her way to the second floor lounge where she observed the new-comers leaning into each other. When she was closer, they sat up straight as Barbara pointed to a chair that would include her in the small group.

After she was seated, Barbara began the introductions…

"Dinah, this is Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Lois, Clark, this is Dinah Redmond."

As Dinah shook Lois' hand she received an image of a younger Clark Kent standing in a corn field barely wearing a red blanket. She had to fight to look him in the eye when he took her hand. The image she received from him was of Lois Lane posturing for a fight dressed in red leather just before she jumped on the back of a mountain sized man. Her eyes locked with his as she realized that he was controlling the thought she was receiving. Then the image changed to one of Lois Lane dressed as she was today, perched on the edge of what she assumed to be his desk, showing plenty of leg, sticking her tongue out at him and holding the front page of the Daily Planet up pointing at a by-line with her name on it.

"You're reporters for the Metropolis Daily Planet?" She turned to Barbara in near panic, "They're reporters! Why are they in here?"

"Relax, Dinah, they are old friends."

"But they are reporters!"

"Do you remember the dossiers you were reading last week about meteor infected individuals from Kansas?"

She looked at them, "Are they infected?" The near silent laughter from the reporters bugged her.

"You had questions and wanted to meet the individuals that compiled the dossiers – L.L. and C.S…"

Cutting her off, Dinah blurted, "Kent doesn't start with an 'S'."

"No," Lois interjected, "he's not C.S., but he knows more about the subject than anyone else. Now, what were your questions?"

Two hours later, Lois had answered most of Dinah's and Clark and Barbara were downstairs ordering dinner…

"All these stories are hard to believe."

"Tell me about it! If I hadn't witnessed so much I never would believe them."

"Why don't you ever report them?"

"Sometimes we do, but Smallville and I don't want to compound the problems if we can by attracting too much attention. And there is an undercurrent of deceit that is working to abuse the unfortunate individuals."

"You've mentioned that before; that there is someone trying to organize the infected into a criminal organization."

"You have a good ear… His name is Alexander Luthor, Lex for short. He has been using the infected for years."

"Why don't you shut him down?"

"There's what we know to be the truth, and what we can prove. Lex is a true genius when it comes to insulating himself from anything that can prove he is the criminal mastermind we know him to be?"

"Didn't he try to move his headquarters to New Gotham last year?"

"Yes he did, but we were able to set his program back, forcing him to regroup. Any other questions?"

"There are still two individuals that seemed a little too special?"

"Only two?"

"Well, two that stand out. The girl that can bring back the dead for instance."

"She doesn't 'bring back the dead', she is a healer. If there is a spark of life in an individual she can restore their health, but the cost is terrible."

"How so?"

"She instantly heals the injured party by transferring the injury to herself; the injury heals at an accelerated rate. A deep cut will take a few hours, a break a few more, but near death – the recovery time increases each time she does it."

"You mean she's… like dead."

"Exactly, until she just wakes up; we don't like for her to do that."

"That's… Wow."

"She saved me once, and I'll protect her as much as I can. That's why there is so little information on her."

Dinah stared at the woman for a minute then smiled, "I understand."

"There was another one you have a question about?"

"Yes, this one seems like fiction, even compared to the others."

"Go ahead." She smiled at Clark as he came over and sat beside her.

"The infected seem to have only on power, but there is this one individual that has several powers. Strength, speed, invulnerability, and heat vision: come on, he has to be an imagined character, right?" She couldn't understand why Clark was blushing and Lois was leaning into him with a wicked smile on her face.

"He's also very good looking."

"He's real?"

"As real as Farm Boy here is."

Over the last couple of hours, Dinah had become accustomed to Lois' plethora of nicknames for the man she had learned was her husband. What she hadn't learned was why, while Lois seemed the dominant one, she seemed to defer to him. The one thing they shared seemed to be a complete adoration of the other.

After a dinner of the best Peking Duck she had ever had, as well as the most authentic sides she had ever had, the trio was watching the sunset from the balcony outside the Clock Tower. Barbara and Dinah watched from their usual spot while Lois and Clark were at a corner. Helena had joined them, but was upset for some reason…

"I'm telling you Barbara," Helena sneered while staring at Lois and Clark, "if that damned Boy Scout helps me again I'll tear him apart!"

"It's compulsive with him. Besides, think of it as him admitting that you are an equal. He didn't take over did he?"

"No, but it throws me off getting unexpected help."

"Who helped you?" A confused Dinah asked.

"The meddlesome Metropolis moron!"

"Who?"

"Superman."

"He's real!?"

"As real as that self-important name he calls himself!"

"Hey!" Lois interjected, "I gave him that name. All he ever asked was to be called, 'Friend'."

"What about that big 'S' he has splashed across his chest!?"

"Think of it as a family crest."

Glaring at the two, she remained silent for a few seconds before turning away, "Just keep away from me." She was heard muttering.

"I guess it's time we left." Clark said as he led Lois over to the others, shaking Barbara's hand and Dinah's, "It's been nice meeting you, Dinah. Helena… always a pleasure. Barbara, let's not wait so long before getting together again; and tell Alfred we missed him."

Lois echoed her husband's sentiments and leaned back into him when he stepped behind her. Dinah thought it was one of the most intimate poses she had ever witnessed before Lois' hand went up and removed Clark's glasses. Instantly he seemed to look and stand different; larger, imposing even. She didn't recognize his voice when he spoke to her…

"We will meet again soon, Miss Redmond." He smiled at her with a confidence that Clark Kent didn't seem to have, "It might improve Huntress' mood if you get Barbara to recount how your mother beat me in our first encounter." With that said, he wrapped an arm around Lois and raised the other. Slowly they levitated from the balcony and he looked down at her, "You might need to reread the section on me, you missed a few powers." And they vanished, soaring into the moonlit night.

**XxxxxxxxxxxxX **

**The End**


End file.
